FM9's deep tweaking gets me the closest I've ever gotten to this "unique" JCM800 tone

[621]

Nice! That chorus I threw in there is similar to the outro chorus. Could use more refinement but it'll work for now.

I just realized that I don't have my Strat for now, my brother borrowed it. Anyway, here's a sound sample with my humbucker guitar. I couldn't play "Under the Bridge," so I chose this song instead. It's not even close to the original because of the humbucker

 

[SwirlyMaple]

I just realized that I don't have my Strat for now, my brother borrowed it. Anyway, here's a sound sample with my humbucker guitar. I couldn't play "Under the Bridge," so I chose this song instead. It's not even close to the original because of the humbucker

It’s missing the bite of the single coils, but I think it still sounds good and still retains that cleanish-JCM character!

 

[luckymethod]

Did you actually see him live, or are you referring to the infamous clips of when he was intentionally sabotaging their performances in the early 90s because he was mad at Kiedis and hated their fame? (E.g. the SNL performance)

Saw them twice. They sucked both times, badly.

 

[Orvillain]

He sounded like ducking garbage both times I heard him live, I lost all respect I had for him as guitar player to the point that I wonder if it was really him playing on the records.

Wew lad. Been a while since someone's opinion knocked my head back a bit. He's genuinely one of my favourite guitarists. He's had some ropey stuff, sure. Drugs.

 

[TubeStack]

Sounds great, @SwirlyMaple !

Also, I read the thread title as “FM9’s deep twerking…”

 

[Stone]

Something like this @SwirlyMaple ?

 

[FuzzyAce]

@SwirlyMaple
Well done! Now I need to get a Fractal so I can get the preset from you.

 

[Byrdman]

Are going to see how close you can get to it on Helix now that we have the latest update? BTW, sounds good to me!

 

[Mongillo19]

I just realized that I don't have my Strat for now, my brother borrowed it. Anyway, here's a sound sample with my humbucker guitar. I couldn't play "Under the Bridge," so I chose this song instead. It's not even close to the original because of the humbucker

Sounded great!

 

[la szum]

Ha, same. But a few years ago I happened to come across the unmixed guitar tracks for the whole BSSM album, and something about it embedded itself in my brain. His playing on that album sounds relatively simple until you hear the guitar by itself and try to emulate it. Those stark funky clean tones leave nothing to hide behind.


According to a prior tech of his, some interviews around that time, and my own personal belief from listening to the original guitar tracks -- I don't think the CE-1 is on Under the Bridge, or maybe on any of the BSSM album. He had a CE-1 at the time, but supposedly it was in for repair and thus the stereo chorus used was a DOD FX65 instead. I tend to believe that, because if you listen to the original guitar tracks for UTB, the chorus-ey outro has modulation on both the right and left tracks, while the CE-1 only modulates one channel in stereo mode.

But for sure, pretty much all of his later tones, from Californication onward, have either the CE-1 pre-amp (and its chorus) in the chain. It has a thicker, darker sound which is pretty recognizable.


Some of the overdubs on that album are, apparently. I wouldn't be too shocked if the intro to UTB was also straight into the desk, because it has a very different tone than the rest of the track, and is super compressed -- way more compression than you'd get with a DynaComp pedal like he was using with the amps for that album.

That album is a mix of tones -- some are the bright cleans of a JCM in stereo with a darker bass amp (possibly his Marshall Major or maybe a Super Bass), while some of the overdubs and solos are just a cheap Fender H.O.T. practice amp made the same year they recorded the album.


Sure thing! I'll probably work on it a bit more to get it even closer and also add the chorus to the preset for the outro, but I'll grab the one I used in the shared track off my FM9 and post it here shortly. Edit: @621 here ya go https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/oftd...13.2.syx?rlkey=11ukotr1p5dz8vlmgdv6ccvok&dl=0


Great question! Nope, it's almost entirely Strat. He did use that green Jaguar you see in the music video throughout the album though, mostly as overdubs and doubled parts. I'm pretty sure it is used in UTB's overdubs: in the intro, the sustained notes on the higher strings sound like a Jag overdub, and the Maj7 chord before each chorus also has a very bright double that sounds like a Jag too.

Man, you do your research, don't you?

I honesty, don't know. I just always felt like that UTB didn't really have those
iconic Strat tones we tend to hear. Definitely something different in the tone
and response I am hearing. I swear that Intro has to be Jag, or have some Jag in
it. That shorter scale length means more sag/flop when picked/plucked, and I
can hear that in spades on the Intro especially. Those wound strings just don't
have the tautness you get from a Strat.

Again, just guessing here.

 

[JT]

Just DL'd these preset. Swapped out cab block with a dyna-cab export from cab lab and added large spring up front as well as dual pitch

What do the mixer and enhancer block(s) do for you? What about the comp? I never use a comp (because devils music) and the enhancer seems like some sort of voodoo juice that I have never seemed to get the point of when using my ears.

 

[DrewJD82]

Man, you do your research, don't you?

I honesty, don't know. I just always felt like that UTB didn't really have those
iconic Strat tones we tend to hear. Definitely something different in the tone
and response I am hearing. I swear that Intro has to be Jag, or have some Jag in
it. That shorter scale length means more sag/flop when picked/plucked, and I
can hear that in spades on the Intro especially. Those wound strings just don't
have the tautness you get from a Strat.

Again, just guessing here.

The mids in that intro never reminded me of a Strat, like the EQ curve doesn’t quite have that typical Strat neck pickup sound and definitely isn’t in a 2/4 position. But the tone works perfectly for the song, I don’t think I’d want to hear it with a typical Strat sound. The dulled, almost flat sound of that guitar works perfectly with the lyrical content.

 

[ian_dissonance]

He sounded like ducking garbage both times I heard him live, I lost all respect I had for him as guitar player to the point that I wonder if it was really him playing on the records.

When I saw them it was Keidis’ wheezing, half-spoken, incredibly out of key “singing” that made me never want to hear them again.

 

[la szum]

The mids in that intro never reminded me of a Strat, like the EQ curve doesn’t quite have that typical Strat neck pickup sound and definitely isn’t in a 2/4 position. But the tone works perfectly for the song, I don’t think I’d want to hear it with a typical Strat sound. The dulled, almost flat sound of that guitar works perfectly with the lyrical content.

Sounds like a Jaguar to me.

 

[JT]

I saw them twice on BSSM tour and they were FIRE. They can still hang musically but the folk funk angle with Kiedis doing Kiedis is going to be a hard pass now.

 

[la szum]

When I saw them it was Keidis’ wheezing, half-spoken, incredibly out of key “singing” that made me never want to hear them again.

Haha! Ouch!

I'd love to hear the RHCP with a guy like Brandon Boyd from Incubus.

 

[JT]

Haha! Ouch!

I'd love to hear the RHCP with a guy like Brandon Boyd from Incubus.

Imagine how spectacular this could be. Lordy.

 

[la szum]

This thread made me want to listen to some RHCP the other day. So in I went and about the 4th song in
Keidis and his schtick had me turning them off. Still a legend. But man.... hard for me to abide that dude's
vocal..... uhmmmmm..... stylings at times.

 

[JT]

I love Mofo, Mothers Milk and BSSM. Full stop. After that; pretty much non-stop nope with a very occasional exception.

 

[SwirlyMaple]

Just DL'd these preset. Swapped out cab block with a dyna-cab export from cab lab and added large spring up front as well as dual pitch

What do the mixer and enhancer block(s) do for you? What about the comp? I never use a comp (because devils music) and the enhancer seems like some sort of voodoo juice that I have never seemed to get the point of when using my ears.

The second mixer was just there so I could quickly check how it sounded in mono (mixer blocks have a mono/stereo toggle). I build almost all presets in stereo but try to make sure they sound good merged. The first mixer block was to quickly tweak balance as I was still poking around and I forgot to delete it

The enhancer block was to get the stereo field a bit closer to the original, and that second comp block is the “Dynamics Processor,” which gives it a good bit of extra thwack when you give the strings a hard strum. That’s to try to get closer to the attack of a loud-as-fook cab exciting a room.

The first comp block is just a classic DynaComp, which also helps add to the percussive attack while fattening up the sustain.

I should note this is dialed in for stereo monitors or headphones to be similar to the album tone, so no guarantees at all about how it sounds through a cab unless you mod it :)